Learn Concepts of Management in Dr. Mandi's style...

It was Dr Mandi's 2nd lecture and the class was eager to see what new  he would teach through his innovative activities. This time it were the work management concepts.

As before, it was an eventful lecture where principles of work were taught with the help of an activity.

Activity was to build a tower of wooden blocks.

He asked the class to predict how many blocks could be arranged one over the other before it would fall .The estimates ranged from 15-19.

Then he asked us to bid  for the activity.
The person with the highest bid got to perform the activity. He started building the tower and was able to compile 22 blocks before they collapsed.

Then the next task. He again asked us to estimate how many blocks could be arranged but by a blindfolded person. The value falled to 8-14.

Again the bidding was done.
Finally a team of three was formed for a little role play,  one member of the team was blindfolded, other was there to give instructions, and third one to supervise them. They had the target to build the tower of more than 22 blocks so as to beat the other person and win their money.

Bidding was to add to the motivation of the team. With the instructions of his team mate, the blindfolded person could assemble 24 blocks one over the other.

The whole activity was to teach the pros and cons of the Old Management Concept (OMC) and the  New Management Concept.(NMC)".We learned how work, skill ,satisfaction and output differs in both.

Learning was the pros and cons of  both the concepts. How span of work, skill , satisfaction and output differs in both.

Work gets divided into elements in More Than One Person approach. So here work gets enlarged & each task becomes simpler without much need of skill for it.

Also learnt about the hierarchy of the organization. The hierarchy should not be very high as it leads to confusion. The middle management is the one which is usually removed in such scenarios.

The single block building activity was able to teach so many concepts and that too in manner where everyone enjoyed. Looking forward to many such activities to learn in a similar manner.

New lessons in a new Manner...

Time changes... Life changes...

I experienced the same on reaching the campus of NITIE on 13th of this month.

The green lush campus, NITIE sarovar and the 96 stairs from hostel to academic block welcomed me.

 After working for more than 2 years in corporate world it was a great feeling to be back to college.

New college, new people, new professors with their own ways of teaching. Very true for Dr. T. Prasad, a person with a dynamic personality and his unique ways of teaching.

It was time for the lecture of  Principles of Organization & Management  & it started with our professor, Dr. T. Prasad (popularly known as Dr. Mandi) settling himself onto the floor.

A situation which landed us all in a confusion...
There came a  sotto voce asking us to be seated on the floor or chairs as we wish.

Whole class grabbed the opportunity and soon a MBA class got converted to a 'GURUKUL'

 Dr. Mandi, is popular by this name because of his association with an event of NITIE called 'Mandi' where NITIEans take to the streets of Mumbai.

 

'Mandi' is done with various purpose. Firstly to give practical scenarios to the classroom concepts of Marketing, Principles of Management, and Business Economics. Secondly to add new dimension in the lives of children deprived of education.

 It is done with the help of toys which is based on the concept of 'study while you play'. The entire amount collected is donated to the NGO Navnirmiti which provides the event with toys (for sale) in the first place.

Stress Ball with Map

Dr. Mandi uses this concept not only at the  time of event but also in his lectures. During his first lecture with us, he showed us a small rubber ball with globe on it and explained how we can market this product as it is a very small globe which would cost nominal. Also the children can use it to play.
He has ample such examples to teach concepts of management in a practical manner. He also used  Newton’s Cradle.

Newton's Cradle

He believes in 'aaj ka khana aaj hi kamao' (i.e. One should earn one's todays' bread today only). He motivated the class to try to atleast earn Rs.25 when we are spending  Rs.2500 per day for being here.
He has his own peculiar way of talking in which he calls business as 'dhanda' and believes a manager should think what he has gained from what he has already spent. He also believes that one should do this but in an ethical manner.

In short the lecture educated us about 'Mandi' and few concepts of management in a very interactive manner.